I cover both timepieces and other luxury items that interest me such as cars and technology. An unshakable interest in wrist watches mixed with a passion for curiosity afforded me the opportunity to make them my career. My website aBlogtoWatch.com is the highest-trafficked blog on timepieces, and I have been fortunate enough to write or have written for some of the most esteemed luxury, men’s interesting, watch, and gadget publications online and in print – including Luxist.com, TechCrunch, Departures International, and Centurion. My style is conversational, and I won’t bore you with needless technical talk or marketing lingo. I tell it like it is and attempt to share my passion with you. My goal is to get you interested in what I like. A lot of my time is spent traveling internationally to Europe to meet with esteemed watch makers and to get a hands-on look at many of the rare and interesting timepieces and items I write about.

12/05/2013 @ 8:55AM27,853 views

Inside Rolex: Understanding The World's Most Impressive Watch Maker

It is difficult to sum up exactly what Rolex is. In addition to being one of the most widely known names in luxury, it is a historic watch maker, success story of modern industrialization, social (and arguably actual) currency, and vertically integrated empire that guards its secrets closely.

I now know some of those secrets because I was personally invited to visit Rolex and their four large manufacture locations in Switzerland and previously wrote an article for watch buyers on 10 Things to Know About How Rolex Makes Watches. Three of the Rolex manufacturing locations are in Geneva and they do everything from produce watch cases to assembling the final products. Rolex watch movements however are made (as they have been from the start) about two hours away in the city of Bienne, that borders the German and French speaking parts of the country.

So what is Rolex if not just a company that makes really good, really popular watches? Based on what I experienced I have to claim that they are something else, because the pieces add up to so much more. Perhaps I can use a metaphor to describe what I feel Rolex is really like. Imagine a spaceship flying through space on a very serious mission. The spaceship even has people on-board who can improve the ship while it is in motion. When the spaceship left earth it was told that it had a sole mission, to travel as far into space as possible. That is kind of like Rolex.

Their mission is to make watches, and they do everything possible to make mechanical watches that are as good as possible. In fact, their organization has become so good at making watches they continue to do so in a time when many people argue that the world doesn’t need mechanical watches. Over the years Rolex has increasingly continued to vertically integrate itself. Meaning that they produce almost everything that goes into their timepieces in-house. Currently they only rely on outside suppliers for a handful of items and services – most notably their sapphire crystals and watch hands. It would not surprise me if they eventually brought that work in-house as well.

So Rolex continues on its mission into space producing the best watches possible, self-reliant and self-motivated. In fact, I think that an argument can be made that if it wasn’t for Rolex being so self-assured and serious about mechanical watches, such products would consist of a simple cottage industry producing a limited amount of product for dedicated enthusiasts.

Rather, in an age of smartphones and fiber optic internet, a man still needs a good mechanical watch to feel complete in much of the established business world. It would not be unreasonable to credit Rolex with a great deal of that.

In the 1980s the existence of cheap, accurate electronic quartz movements made in Asia crippled the mechanical watch industry in Switzerland. Even Rolex got into the game of making quartz watches for a while. But then they abruptly stopped, instead decided to focus once again entirely on mechanical watches. It was the Swatch Group however that was credited for saving the Swiss watch industry with the (ironically) inexpensive and accurate quartz-based Swatch product.

So while quartz helped save Switzerland from quartz, the money gained helped revive the wrist mechanical wrist watch industry in the 1990s and beyond. Having said that, it is only through massive marketing budgets are more watch makers relevant in the largest markets, and Rolex is perhaps the prime example. In the 1980s Rolex began a massive awareness campaign to subtly incorporate the Rolex name in everything related to time and success. Travel to any airport worth going to today and you can be sure you’ll find a lot of Rolex-branded clocks. The same goes for popular sporting and cultural events.

Rolex understood early on that to remain powerful, it needed to do more than simply produce a great product, it needed to produce a great feeling that went along with wearing that product. Rolex today is synonymous with success. You don’t need a Rolex to appear successful, but having one doesn’t imply that you are a bum. It is also a celebration product. People buy a Rolex (often for themselves) to signify a key occasion in their life such as graduation from school, or upon getting a desired job or promotion.

Rolex banks on two things. First, that people will always want to know what time it is, and second, that the wrist will remain prime real estate to show something off. For a man the wrist is often the only place anything remotely resembling jewelry is allowed to go.

The death of the wrist watch has been greatly exaggerated by the media. Evidenced by a lack of young people wearing watches, it is often pointed out that the wrist watch is on its way out. It is true that unlike decades ago, there is a lot more technology vying for someone’s disposable income. That also means an adolescent is more likely to get a tablet computer or phone as a gift versus a wrist watch. But as technology continues to advance, the wrist is once again becoming an extremely attractive location to wear things, and watches are making a comeback.

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It is true that servicing a mechanical watch is expensive. This isn’t limited to just Rolex, but to most luxury watch brands. Service is both a revenue stream for the brands, as well as a responsibility. Their goal is to ensure that the watches they repair or service are done well. It takes a lot of time, and specialized labor. Understandably a point of contention, it is a common theme in the industry. Though in response to what you said, anyone who can enjoy a watch for decades before having to get it serviced has been able to enjoy a rather remarkable machine. Try going decades between servicing your car.

I started reading this article and expected a lot more from a “luxury wrist-watch expert.” All I got was and endless repetition of how wonderful Rolex is, with little to no details about their manufacturing process, technical advances, evolution on how they do things, etc. I am not an “expert,” and still did not learn anything from the article.

I have been looking at higher end watches for the last 2 years. Haven’t been able to pull the trigger on something over $5,000. However, I just reached a certain goal financially and am now thinking about a Rolex again. When I first started looking at watches I figured a 2,000 to 3,000 watch would be the way to go, and get high quality and good looks. However, it now seems to me that many of those watches in that price range are just fancy cases with basic movements. In doing my research it certainly appears better to spend $6,000 to $8,000 on a rolex from a trusted reseller. When looking used, 5-15 year old Rolex’s seem to have held on to most of their value over time, and some are worth more today than when purchased. Even though it ties up more money, it seems like buying a used Rolex can actually be a good deal long term. Sure you could buy the cheaper watch and invest the difference and come out ahead, but you also get the joy of wearing a Rolex for those years. Anyway, now I have to overcome the fear of wearing something that expensive if I do it. Another reason I’m afraid to buy is it will become a safe queen and I’ll get pissed when it eventually gets scratches.

A plea to the author: Educate your readership, don’t just bring a pitcher of Kool-Aid to the party!!!

Rolex is undoubtedly a high quality company and an even stronger brand, but this is article is nothing but a fluff piece…reading it you’d think it was Rolex and not the creation of the Swatch Group that played a pivotal role in turning around the Swiss watchmaking industry in the 1980s. The reality is that Rolex’s secret sauce is mostly about marketing – any horologist worth his salt can point to a number of other Swiss watchmakers with superior craftsmanship. I’m not suggesting that Rolex is ripping off consumers (it IS a quality product), but am simply underscoring the idea that brand perception trumps truth.